Method and system for operating an autonomous agent with incomplete environmental information

ABSTRACT

A system for operating an autonomous agent with incomplete environmental information can include and/or interface an autonomous operating system and an autonomous agent. A method for operating an autonomous agent with incomplete environmental information includes any or all of: receiving a set of inputs; determining a set of known objects in the ego vehicle&#39;s environment; determining a set of blind regions in the ego vehicle&#39;s environment; and inserting a set of virtual objects into the set of blind regions; selecting a set of virtual objects based on the set of blind regions; operating the autonomous agent based on the set of virtual objects; and/or any other suitable processes.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application claims the benefit of U.S. Provisional Application No.63/170,206, filed 2 Apr. 2021, which is incorporated in its entirety bythis reference.

TECHNICAL FIELD

This invention relates generally to the autonomous vehicle field, andmore specifically to a new and useful system and method for operating anautonomous vehicle in regions of reduced or absent data in theautonomous vehicle field.

BACKGROUND

In the autonomous vehicle field, it is crucial for the autonomous agentto have an accurate and complete understanding of its environment, inorder to safely proceed through its dynamically changing surroundings.However, the sensors of autonomous vehicles are often obstructed orotherwise unable to detect certain regions surrounding the agent,resulting in “blind spots” which can cause a high-level uncertainty inthe agent's understanding of its environment. Conventional systems andmethods typically account for this by prescribing overly cautiousbehavior for the agent in these scenarios, such as coming to a stop orproceeding very slowly. Not only is this behavior inefficient (e.g.,slow, overly cautious, requiring the vehicle to come to a stop, etc.)and often frustrating to surrounding drivers, it can also be dangerousin an event that the agent acts in an unexpected way to other drivers,such as coming to a stop in an intersection. Further, maintaining a setof programmed rules and/or behaviors in response to explicitly detectingthese blind spots is difficult and often computationally expensive.

Thus, there is a need in the autonomous vehicle field to create animproved and useful system and method for operating an autonomous agentwith an incomplete understanding of its environment.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE FIGURES

FIG. 1 is a schematic of a system for operating an autonomous agent.

FIG. 2 is a schematic of a method for operating an autonomous agent.

FIGS. 3A-3B depict a schematic variation of operating an autonomousagent in a first conflict zone at a set of time points.

FIG. 4 depicts a schematic variation of operating an autonomous agent ina second conflict zone.

FIG. 5 depicts a schematic variation of an autonomous agent in itsenvironment.

FIG. 6 depicts a schematic variation of a visible region and a set ofblind regions of an autonomous agent in its environment.

FIG. 7 depicts a schematic variation of a method for operating anautonomous agent.

FIG. 8 depicts a schematic variation of at least a portion of a methodand/or system for operating an autonomous agent.

FIGS. 9A-9E depict an example implementation of a method for operatingan autonomous agent.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

The following description of the preferred embodiments of the inventionis not intended to limit the invention to these preferred embodiments,but rather to enable any person skilled in the art to make and use thisinvention.

1. Overview

As shown in FIG. 1, a system 100 for operating an autonomous agent withincomplete environmental information can include and/or interface anautonomous operating system and an autonomous agent. Additionally oralternatively, the system can include or all of the components asdescribed in U.S. application Ser. No. 16/514,624, filed 17 Jul. 2019,now issued as U.S. Pat. No. 10,564,641; U.S. application Ser. No.16/505,372, filed 8 Jul. 2019, now issued as U.S. Pat. No. 10,614,709;U.S. application Ser. No. 16/792,780, filed 17 Feb. 2020; U.S.application Ser. No. 17/365,538, filed 1 Jul. 2021; U.S. applicationSer. No. 17/550,461, filed 14 Dec. 2021; and U.S. application Ser. No.17/554,619, filed 17 Dec. 2021; each of which is incorporated herein inits entirety by this reference.

The system 100 is preferably used to perform any or all of the method200 described below, but can additionally or alternatively be used toperform any other suitable method(s).

As shown in FIG. 2, a method 200 for operating an autonomous agent withincomplete environmental information includes any or all of: receiving aset of inputs S210; determining a set of blind regions in the egovehicle's environment S220; and inserting a set of virtual objects intothe set of blind regions S240; and; and/or any other suitable processes.Additionally or alternatively, the method 200 can include any or all of:determining a set of known objects in the ego vehicle's environmentS215; selecting a set of virtual objects based on the set of blindregions S230; operating the autonomous agent based on the set of virtualobjects S250; and/or any other suitable processes. Further additionallyor alternatively, the method 200 can include and/or interface with anyor all of the processes described in any or all of: U.S. applicationSer. No. 16/514,624, filed 17 Jul. 2019, now issued as U.S. Pat. No.10,564,641; U.S. application Ser. No. 16/505,372, filed 8 Jul. 2019, nowissued as U.S. Pat. No. 10,614,709; U.S. application Ser. No.16/792,780, filed 17 Feb. 2020; U.S. application Ser. No. 17/365,538,filed 1 Jul. 2021; U.S. application Ser. No. 17/550,461, filed 14 Dec.2021; and U.S. application Ser. No. 17/554,619, filed 17 Dec. 2021; eachof which is incorporated herein in its entirety by this reference, orany other suitable processes performed in any suitable order.

The method 200 can be performed with a system as described above and/orany other suitable system.

2. Benefits

The system and method for operating an autonomous agent with incompleteenvironmental information can confer several benefits over currentsystems and methods.

In a first variation, the technology confers the benefit of enabling anautonomous agent to operate with incomplete environmental informationwithout requiring the autonomous agent to drive overly cautious manner,in an unnatural manner, in a dangerous manner, and/or otherwise lessoptimally, which can be bothersome, disruptive, and potentiallydangerous to other vehicles, drivers, and pedestrians in the autonomousagent's environment. In examples, the system and/or method enables theego vehicle to drive in an optimal way through the inclusion of virtualobjects (equivalently referred to herein as phantom objects/agents,hypothetical objects/agents, ghost objects/agents, etc.) in planning ortrajectory generation of the autonomous agent. In specific examples, theautonomous agent operates as if these virtual objects were real.

Additionally, the technology can confer the benefit of optimizing theresponse of the ego vehicle to an incomplete environmentalrepresentation by selecting parameters for the virtual objects which arereasonable for the virtual objects to have (e.g., based onphysics/dynamics principles, historical information, a situationalawareness/understanding of how known objects in the ego vehicle'senvironment are behaving, statistics and/or probabilities, etc.) ratherthan, for instance, selecting all predetermined and/or most dangerousparameters for each virtual object, which can result in the ego vehiclebeing stopped (e.g., “getting stuck,” not progressing toward a goal, notmoving, etc.), driving in dangerous and/or confusing ways to otherdrivers (e.g., slamming on the brakes despite there not being an objectpresent), and/or otherwise driving in non-optimal ways.

Additionally or alternatively, the technology can enable and/orencourage the ego vehicle to operate in ways which helps the ego vehiclecollect (e.g., with its sensors) more information about its environment(e.g., determine whether or not an object is actually present in a blindregion), and thereby enable the ego vehicle to operate in efficient,safe, and/or otherwise optimal ways (e.g., not being stopped for longperiods of time). In specific examples, for instance, a policy (e.g.,behavior) can be proposed to and/or implemented at the ego vehicle(e.g., a creep forward behavior) which is configured to help the egovehicle collect additional information about its environment, such asone or more particular blind regions in the ego vehicle's environment.

In a second variation, additional or alternative to the first, thetechnology confers the benefit of not requiring the creation and/or useand/or maintenance of a library of hard-coded logic (e.g., at aplanner/planning module of the ego vehicle) for detecting and respondingto various different blind spots which the autonomous agent mayencounter. In specific examples, the system and/or method enables thisthrough the inclusion of virtual objects in planning or trajectorygeneration of the autonomous agent, such that the autonomous agentreacts to the virtual objects as it would to real objects in itsenvironment.

In a third variation, additional or alternative to those describedabove, the technology confers the benefit of enabling and/or optimizingfor computational efficiency in selecting the virtual objects to beconsidered by the agent, while still ensuring that the agent drives in asafe manner. In specific examples, for instance, this is enabled throughany or all of: inserting virtual objects which represent a worst-case,yet possible (e.g., realistic) scenario; using information about knownagents (e.g., historical information about their presence, speed,location, etc.) as priors (e.g., initial beliefs, probabilitydistributions for a Bayesian inference process in amulti-policy-decision-making process, etc.) into/regarding regions ofinvisibility (equivalently referred to herein as blind regions); using aduration of invisibility for a region to determine the likelihood of anagent being present at a normal speed (e.g., speed of traffic); using aduration of invisibility for a region to determine the maximum speed ofan object which might be present within the region; only insertingvirtual objects into predetermined zones (e.g., regions which have alikelihood and/or high likelihood of conflict) and/or refraining fromadding virtual objects into predetermined zones based on supplementaryinformation (e.g., a proposed policy for the ego vehicle, the behaviorof other vehicles, etc.); referencing a predetermined (e.g.,pre-labeled) map to determine any or all of the predetermined zones(e.g., as opposed to dynamically characterizing these zones); onlysimulating a subset of potential (e.g., only worst-case, only relevant,etc.) behaviors and/or policies for the virtual objects; and/or enabledin any other suitable way(s).

Additionally or alternatively, the system and method can confer anyother benefit(s).

3. System 100

As shown in FIG. 1, a system 100 for operating an autonomous agent withincomplete environmental information can include and/or interface anautonomous operating system and an autonomous agent. Additionally oralternatively, the system can include or all of the components asdescribed in U.S. application Ser. No. 16/514,624, filed 17 Jul. 2019,now issued as U.S. Pat. No. 10,564,641; U.S. application Ser. No.16/505,372, filed 8 Jul. 2019, now issued as U.S. Pat. No. 10,614,709;U.S. application Ser. No. 16/792,780, filed 17 Feb. 2020; U.S.application Ser. No. 17/365,538, filed 1 Jul. 2021; U.S. applicationSer. No. 17/550,461, filed 14 Dec. 2021; and U.S. application Ser. No.17/554,619, filed 17 Dec. 2021; each of which is incorporated herein inits entirety by this reference.

The system 100 functions to autonomously or partially autonomouslyoperate an ego vehicle in numerous environments, including those inwhich the ego vehicle does not have a full understanding of itsenvironment. Additionally or alternatively, the system 100 can functionto improve the operation of the ego vehicle in uncertain environments,such as through preventing the ego vehicle from being stopped or stalledfor long periods of time in uncertain environments; preventing the egovehicle from operating in ways which are confusing and/or disruptive toother users of the road; enabling the ego vehicle to make progresstoward a goal; and/or otherwise improving operation of the ego vehicle.Further additionally or alternatively, the system 100 can function to:enable the ego vehicle to navigate a set of routes, wherein the set ofroutes can be any or all of: fixed, dynamically determined, or anycombination; maintain and/or increase a computational efficiencyassociated with operation of the ego vehicle; and/or can perform anyother suitable functions.

3.1 System—Components

The system 100 preferably includes and/or interfaces with (e.g., isintegrated within) an autonomous vehicle (equivalently referred toherein as an ego vehicle, autonomous agent, agent, and/or ego agent).The autonomous agent preferably includes an autonomous vehicle, furtherpreferably a fully autonomous vehicle and/or a vehicle able to beoperated as a fully autonomous vehicle, but can additionally oralternatively be a semi-autonomous vehicle and/or any other vehicle.

Additionally, or alternatively, the autonomous agent can be a vehiclethat switches between a semi-autonomous state and a fully autonomousstate (or a fully-manned state) and thus, the autonomous agent can haveattributes of both a semi-autonomous vehicle and a fully autonomousvehicle depending on the state of the autonomous agent.

In preferred variations, the autonomous vehicle is an automobile (e.g.,car, driverless car, bus, shuttle, taxi, ride-share vehicle, truck,semi-truck, etc.). Additionally or alternatively, the autonomous vehiclecan include any or all of: a watercraft (e.g., boat, water taxi, etc.),aerial vehicle (e.g., plane, helicopter, drone, etc.), terrestrialvehicle (e.g., 2-wheeled vehicle, bike, motorcycle, scooter, etc.),and/or any other suitable vehicle and/or transportation device,autonomous machine, autonomous device, autonomous robot, and/or anyother suitable device.

The autonomous agent preferably includes and/or interfaces with acomputing and/or processing system, wherein the computing and/orprocessing system functions to process information (e.g., sensor inputs)in order to determine a set of one or more trajectories for the vehicle.Additionally or alternatively, the computing and/or processing systemcan function to perform any or all of the processes involved in any orall of: perception, prediction, localization, planning, and/or any otherprocesses involved in operation of the autonomous agent.

The computing system preferably includes an onboard computing systemarranged onboard (e.g., integrated within) the autonomous agent.Additionally or alternatively, the computing system can include any orall of: a remote computing system (e.g., cloud computing system, remotecomputing in communication with an onboard computing system, in place ofan onboard computing system, etc.), a computing system integrated in asupplementary device (e.g., mobile device, user device, etc.), an edgedevice including mobile computing devices, and/or any other suitablecomputing systems and devices. In some variations, for instance, theautonomous agent is operable in communication with a remote or disparatecomputing system that may include a user device (e.g., a mobile phone, alaptop, etc.), a remote server, a cloud server, or any other suitablelocal and/or distributed computing system remote from the vehicle. Theremote computing system can be connected to one or more systems of theautonomous agent through one or more data connections (e.g., channels),but can alternatively communicate with the vehicle system in anysuitable manner.

The computing system preferably includes a processing system (e.g.,graphical processing unit or GPU, central processing unit or CPU, or anysuitable processing circuitry) and memory, but can additionally oralternatively include any other suitable components. The memory can beshort term (e.g., volatile, non-volatile, random access memory or RAM,etc.) and/or long term (e.g., flash memory, hard disk, etc.) memory.

In some variations, for instance, the onboard computing system operatesto interact with and/or operably control any or one or more of theidentified components or modules described herein. In preferredvariations, for instance, the onboard computing system implements and/orexecutes computer instructions for implementing a multi-policydecisioning module (e.g., as described below). In specific examples, theprocessing system and memory collectively function to dynamically managethe set of policies available to the autonomous agent in the frameworkof a multi-policy decision making framework, such as that described inU.S. application Ser. No. 16/514,624, filed 17 Jul. 2019, and/or U.S.application Ser. No. 17/365,538, filed 1 Jul. 2021, each of which isincorporated herein in its entirety by this reference. Additionally oralternatively, the processing system and memory, and/or any othersuitable components, can be used for any other suitable functions.

In specific examples, the multi-policy decision-making module includes asimulator module or similar machine or system that functions to estimatefuture (i.e., steps forward in time) behavioral policies (operations oractions) for each of the agents and/or objects (e.g., pedestrians)identified in an operating environment of the autonomous agent (real orvirtual) including potential behavioral policies that may be executed bythe autonomous agent, as described in U.S. patent application Ser. No.14/814,766, which is incorporated in its entirety by this reference. Thesimulations may be based on a current state of each agent (e.g., thecurrent hypotheses) and historical actions or historical behaviors ofeach of the agents derived from the historical data buffer (preferablyincluding data up to a present moment). The simulations may provide datarelating to interactions (e.g., relative positions, relative velocities,relative accelerations, etc.) between projected behavioral policies ofeach agent and the one or more potential behavioral policies that may beexecuted by the autonomous agent.

The computing system (e.g., onboard computing system) preferablyfunctions to control the autonomous agent and process sensed data from asensor system (equivalently referred to herein as a sensor suite) (e.g.,a computer vision system, LIDAR, flash LIDAR, wheel speed sensors, GPS,etc.) of the autonomous agent and/or other sensors (e.g., frominfrastructure devices) to determine states of the autonomous agentand/or states of objects (e.g., other vehicles/agents, pedestrians,cyclists, etc.) in an operating environment of the autonomous agent.Based on the states of the autonomous agent and/or objects (e.g., realobjects, virtual objects, etc.) in the operating environment and/or anyother information/instructions (e.g., programmed instructions, learnedinstructions, etc.), the onboard computing system—such as through amulti-policy decision-making module—can generate behavioral policies andselect a behavioral policy (e.g., change lanes, merge, maintain currentlane, turn left, turn right, pull over, slow down, speed up, stop atlight, stop at stop sign, yield, etc.) that the computing systemexecutes to control a behavior of the autonomous agent.

In a first set of variations, the computing system includes an onboardgeneral-purpose computer adapted for I/O communication with vehiclecontrol systems and sensor systems but may additionally or alternativelybe any suitable computing device. The onboard computing system ispreferably connected to the Internet via a wireless connection (e.g.,via a cellular link or connection). Additionally, or alternatively, theonboard computing system can be coupled to any number of wireless orwired communication systems.

Additionally or alternatively, any other computing system(s) can beused.

The system 100 preferably includes a communication interface incommunication with the computing system, which functions to enableinformation to be received at (e.g., from infrastructure devices, from aremote computing system and/or remote server, from a teleoperatorplatform, from another autonomous agent or other vehicle, etc.) andtransmitted from the computing system (e.g., to a remote computingsystem and/or remote server, to a teleoperator platform, to aninfrastructure device, to another autonomous agent or other vehicle,etc.). The communication interface preferably includes a wirelesscommunication system (e.g., Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, cellular 3G, cellular 4G,cellular 5G, multiple-input multiple-output or MIMO, one or more radios,or any other suitable wireless communication system or protocol), butcan additionally or alternatively include any or all of: a wiredcommunication system (e.g., modulated powerline data transfer, Ethernet,or any other suitable wired data communication system or protocol), adata transfer bus (e.g., CAN, FlexRay), and/or any other suitablecomponents.

The system 100 can optionally include a set of infrastructure devices(e.g., as shown in FIG. 5), equivalently referred to herein as roadsideunits, which individually and/or collectively function to observe one ormore aspects and/or features of an environment and collect observationdata relating to the one or more aspects and/or features of theenvironment (e.g., gain an additional vantage point of the environment).In preferred variations, the infrastructure devices additionallyfunction to collect data associated with the observations and transmitthe collected data and/or processed derivatives of the collected data tothe autonomous agent. Additionally or alternatively, the infrastructuredevices can function to collect and transmit data to a teleoperatorplatform, wherein the teleoperators can use the data to inform decisionmaking of a teleoperator, such as whether to include and/or exclude abehavioral policy from consideration by the computing system of theautonomous agent. In a specific example, for instance, an infrastructuredevice can enable a view around a corner of the vehicle to be seen,which the agent and/or an operator and/or a teleoperator of the agentcan use to enable a turning behavioral policy to be considered by theautonomous agent (by seeing that the road is clear for a turn).

Alternatively, the system can be implemented in absence ofinfrastructure devices.

The system preferably includes and/or interfaces with a sensor suite(e.g., computer vision system, LiDAR, RADAR, wheel speed sensors, GPS,cameras, etc.), wherein the sensor suite (equivalently referred toherein as a sensor system) is in communication with the onboardcomputing system and functions to collect information with which todetermine one or more trajectories for the autonomous agent.Additionally or alternatively, the sensor suite can function to enablethe autonomous agent operations (such as autonomous driving), datacapture regarding the circumstances surrounding the autonomous agent,data capture relating to operations of the autonomous agent, detectingmaintenance needs (e.g., through engine diagnostic sensors, exteriorpressure sensor strips, sensor health sensors, etc.) of the autonomousagent, detecting cleanliness standards of autonomous agent interiors(e.g., internal cameras, ammonia sensors, methane sensors, alcohol vaporsensors), and/or perform any other suitable functions.

The sensor suite preferably includes sensors onboard the autonomousvehicle (e.g., RADAR sensors and/or LiDAR sensors and/or cameras coupledto an exterior surface of the agent, IMUs and/or encoders coupled toand/or arranged within the agent, etc.), but can additionally oralternatively include sensors remote from the agent (e.g., as part ofone or more infrastructure devices, sensors in communication with theagent, etc.), and/or any suitable sensors at any suitable locations.

The system can optionally include and/or interface with a vehiclecontrol system including one or more controllers and/or control systems,which include any suitable software and/or hardware components (e.g.,processor and computer-readable storage device) utilized for generatingcontrol signals for controlling the autonomous agent according to arouting goal of the autonomous agent and selected behavioral policiesand/or a selected trajectory of the autonomous agent.

Additionally or alternatively, the vehicle control system can include,interface with, and/or communication with any or all of a set electronicmodules of the agent, such as but not limited to, any or all of:electronic control units [ECUs], telematic control units [TCUs],transmission control modules [TCMs], antilock braking system [ABS]control module, body control module [BCM], and/or any other suitablecontrol subsystems and/or modules.

In preferred variations, the vehicle control system includes, interfaceswith, and/or implements a drive-by-wire system of the vehicle.Additionally or alternatively, the vehicle can be operated in accordancewith the actuation of one or more mechanical components, and/or beotherwise implemented.

Additionally or alternatively, the system can include any or all of: asensor fusion system, a positioning system (e.g., including locationsensors of the sensor system), a guidance system, and/or any suitablecomponents. In some variations, for instance, the sensor fusion systemsynthesizes and processes sensor data and together with a multi-policydecisioning module predicts the presence, location, classification,and/or path of objects and features of the environment of the autonomousagent (real or virtual). In various embodiments, the sensor fusionsystem may function to incorporate data from multiple sensors and/ordata sources, including but not limited to cameras, LiDARS, radars,infrastructure devices, remote data feeds (Internet-based data feeds),and/or any number of other types of sensors.

The positioning system can process sensor data along with other data todetermine a position (e.g., a local position relative to a map, an exactposition relative to lane of a road, vehicle heading, velocity, etc.) ofthe autonomous agent relative to the environment, which can function todetermine what behavioral policies are available to the autonomous agent(e.g., as described below). The guidance system can process sensor dataalong with other data to determine a path for the vehicle to follow.

The system can optionally include and/or interface with one or more maps(e.g., as shown in FIG. 8), wherein the maps can function to provideinformation associated with any or all of: a set of routes (e.g.,predetermined routes of the autonomous agent, potential routes of otheragents, etc.); conflict zones (e.g., areas in which multiple routesintersect, areas in which cross traffic can be present, etc.); one ormore lane policies (e.g., predetermined set of lane policies for egoagent, other agents, other objects, etc.) assigned to a route;parameters and/or features (e.g., associated speed limits, lane widths,etc.) associated with a route; and/or any other information.

In a preferred set of variations, the system includes and/or interfaceswith a map including regions (e.g., with hard-coded routes) from whichconflict zones can be determined a set of hardcoded conflict zones whichthe autonomous agent can compare with blind regions in the method 200described below. Additionally or alternatively, the conflict zonesand/or any other information can be hard coded directly in one or moremaps, the map(s) can be absent of any or all hard-coded information,and/or the map(s) can include any other information.

The system can optionally interface with a teleoperator platform, whichrefers to one or more remote teleoperators and associated components(e.g., communication interface with autonomous agent, computing system,output devices for displaying information from autonomous agents and/orinfrastructure devices to teleoperators, input devices for receivinginstructions/commands from teleoperators, etc.). The teleoperatorplatform can function to receive inputs from teleoperators, which can beused at least partially in the determination of the curated behavioralpolicies for the vehicle.

Additionally or alternatively, the system 100 can include and/orinterface with any other suitable components.

4. Method 200

As shown in FIG. 2, a method 200 for operating an autonomous agent withincomplete environmental information includes any or all of: receiving aset of inputs S210; determining a set of blind regions in the egovehicle's environment S220; and inserting a set of virtual objects intothe set of blind regions S240; and; and/or any other suitable processes.Additionally or alternatively, the method 200 can include any or all of:determining a set of known objects in the ego vehicle's environmentS215; selecting a set of virtual objects based on the set of blindregions S230; operating the autonomous agent based on the set of virtualobjects S250; and/or any other suitable processes. Further additionallyor alternatively, the method 200 can include and/or interface with anyor all of the processes described in any or all of: U.S. applicationSer. No. 16/514,624, filed 17 Jul. 2019, now issued as U.S. Pat. No.10,564,641; U.S. application Ser. No. 16/505,372, filed 8 Jul. 2019, nowissued as U.S. Pat. No. 10,614,709; U.S. application Ser. No.16/792,780, filed 17 Feb. 2020; U.S. application Ser. No. 17/365,538,filed 1 Jul. 2021; U.S. application Ser. No. 17/550,461, filed 14 Dec.2021; and U.S. application Ser. No. 17/554,619, filed 17 Dec. 2021; eachof which is incorporated herein in its entirety by this reference, orany other suitable processes performed in any suitable order.

The method 200 is preferably performed with a system 100 as describedabove, but can additionally or alternatively be performed with any othersuitable system(s).

The method 200 preferably functions to operate (e.g., efficientlyoperate, safely operate, etc.) an autonomous agent with incompleteinformation of its environment. Additionally or alternatively, themethod 200 can function to enable the autonomous agent to drivesimilarly to a human, optimize for and/or minimize a computational costof operating the autonomous agent, and/or can perform any other suitablefunction(s).

The method 200 can optionally be performed in a fixed route orsemi-fixed route environment. Additionally or alternatively, the method200 can be performed in a dynamically-determined route environment, anycombination of environments, and/or any other suitable environment.

The method 200 is preferably configured to interface with a multi-policydecision-making process (e.g., multi-policy decision-making task blockof a computer-readable medium) of the ego agent and any associatedcomponents (e.g., computers, processors, software modules, etc.), butcan additionally or alternatively interface with any otherdecision-making processes. In a preferred set of variations, forinstance, a multi-policy decision-making module of a computing system(e.g., onboard computing system) includes a simulator module (or similarmachine or system) (e.g., simulator task block of a computer-readablemedium) that functions to predict (e.g., estimate) the effects of future(i.e., steps forward in time) behavioral policies (operations oractions) implemented at the ego agent and optionally those at each ofthe set environmental objects (e.g., known objects, virtual objects,etc.) identified in an operating environment of the ego agent. Thesimulations can be based on a current state of each agent (e.g., thecurrent hypotheses) and/or historical actions or historical behaviors ofeach of the agents derived from the historical data buffer (preferablyincluding data up to a present moment). The simulations can provide datarelating to interactions (e.g., relative positions, relative velocities,relative accelerations, etc.) between projected behavioral policies ofeach environmental agent and the one or more potential behavioralpolicies that may be executed by the autonomous agent. The data from thesimulations can be used to determine (e.g., calculate) any number ofmetrics, which can individually and/or collectively function to assessany or all of: the potential impact of the ego agent on any or all ofthe environmental agents when executing a certain policy, the risk ofexecuting a certain policy (e.g., collision risk), the extent to whichexecuting a certain policy progresses the ego agent toward a certaingoal, and/or determining any other metrics involved in selecting apolicy for the ego agent to implement.

The set of metrics can optionally include and/or collectively determine(e.g., through aggregating any or all of the set of metrics describedbelow) a cost function (and/or loss function) associated with eachproposed ego agent policy based on the set of simulation(s) performedfor that proposed policy. Additionally or alternatively, the set ofmetrics described below can be individually determined and/or analyzed,other metrics can be determined, the metrics can be aggregated in othersuitable ways, and/or the metrics can be otherwise configured. Withthese metrics and/or functions, a best policy from the set of policiescan be selected, such as by comparing the metrics and/or functions amongthe different proposed policies (e.g., and selecting the policy whichhas a lowest cost/loss function, selecting the policy which optimizes[e.g., maximizes, minimizes, etc.] an objective function, etc.).

The multi-policy decision-making process can additionally oralternatively include and/or interface with any other processes, suchas, but not limited to, any or all of the processes described in: U.S.application Ser. No. 16/514,624, filed 17 Jul. 2019; and U.S.application Ser. No. 17/365,538, filed 1 Jul. 2021; each of which isincorporated in its entirety by this reference, or any other suitableprocesses performed in any suitable order.

Additionally or alternatively, the method 200 can include and/orinterface with any other decision-making processes.

The method 200 is preferably performed with and/or at a set of computingsubsystems and/or processing subsystems associated with the ego vehicle(e.g., onboard the ego vehicle, in communication with the ego vehicle,etc.), but can additionally or alternatively be performed with any othersuitable components and/or combination of components.

4.1 Method—Receiving a Set of Inputs S210

The method 200 can include receiving a set of inputs S210, whichfunctions to receive information with which to assess an environment ofthe ego vehicle. S210 can additionally or alternatively function toreceive information with which to detect that the ego vehicle is in orapproaching a particular region and/or scenario (e.g., predeterminedzone and/or scenario, conflict zone, etc.), detect one or more blindregions in the ego vehicle's environment, determine an overlap of ablind region with a particular zone, and/or can perform any othersuitable functions.

S210 is preferably performed initially in the method 200, and furtherpreferably throughout operation of the ego vehicle, such as any or allof: continuously (e.g., throughout the ego vehicle's traversal of aroute, while the ego vehicle is driving, during the method 200, etc.),at a predetermined frequency, at a random set of intervals, in responseto a trigger, and/or at any suitable times. Additionally oralternatively, S210 can be performed once, in response to anotherprocess of the method 200, at any suitable time(s) during the method200, and/or instances of the method 200 can be performed in absence ofS210.

S210 is preferably performed at a set of computing subsystems and/orprocessing subsystems associated with the ego vehicle (e.g., onboard theego vehicle, in communication with the ego vehicle, etc.), but canadditionally or alternatively be performed with any other suitablecomponents and/or combination of components.

The set of inputs preferably includes sensor inputs received from any orall of a set of sensors arranged onboard the ego vehicle (e.g., asdescribed above), such as from any or all of the sensors described above(e.g., light detection and ranging [LiDAR] sensors, radio detection andranging [RADAR] sensors, cameras, microphones, etc.). Additionally oralternatively, sensor inputs can be received from any suitable sensors(e.g., remote from the agent, part of one or more infrastructuredevices, etc.), other information sources (e.g., online informationsources, databases, etc.), other agents and/or objects, and/or any othersuitable sensors.

The sensor inputs preferably function to detect and/or indicateocclusions and/or obstructions in the ego vehicle's environment, whichrepresent regions of which the ego vehicle has an incompleteunderstanding (e.g., does not know whether or not an object is presentwithin the region). Additionally or alternatively, the sensor inputs canfunction to detect known objects (e.g., in S215) in the ego vehicle'senvironment, determine parameters (e.g., speed, location, position,etc.) associated with the ego vehicle and/or known objects, detectfeatures in the ego vehicle's environment (e.g., detect the occurrenceof a conflict zone), and/or determine/detect any other information.

The sensor inputs are preferably collected at least in part from sensorswhich characterize the ego vehicle's environment in 3 (or more)dimensions (e.g., LiDAR sensors, RADAR sensors, a multi-camera system,etc.), and further preferably from sensors which can be used to detectocclusions (e.g., obstructions, shadows, etc.) in the 3D environment(e.g., LiDAR sensors). Additionally or alternatively, any other sensorsconfigured for any data detection can be used.

In a preferred set of variations, the sensor inputs include data from aset of LiDAR sensors (e.g., coupled to the ego vehicle). In specificexamples, the LiDAR data is used (e.g., as described below) to detect aset of objects and associated object heights in the ego vehicle'senvironment, where this height information can be used to detect whichregions are obstructed from detection by the ego vehicle.

Additionally or alternatively, the sensor inputs can include data fromany or all of: cameras, RADAR sensors, and/or any other sensors. In someexamples, for instance, data from a set of cameras is collected andanalyzed (e.g., with a set of computer vision processes) to characterizethe environment and detect if there are any regions which might beobstructed from view (e.g., based on detected known objects). In otherexamples, multiple types of sensor data (e.g., aggregated data, fuseddata, etc.) are used (e.g., camera data and LiDAR data, camera data andRADAR data, LiDAR data and RADAR data, etc.).

The set of inputs can optionally additionally or alternatively includehistorical information, which preferably functions to inform (e.g., inS230) whether or not a virtual object should be added to a blind region,and/or if it should be added, what parameter values (e.g., speed value,dimensions, etc.) should be attributed to (e.g., assigned to in asimulation or other analysis, implemented with, etc.) the virtualobject. The historical information can be collected from any or all of:a set of sensors (e.g., onboard the ego vehicle, offboard the egovehicle, etc.), a set of databases, a set of simulations, and/or anyother sources.

The historical information preferably includes information (e.g., data)associated with the ego vehicle's environment at previous time steps,such as prior data (e.g., prior trajectories/paths, prior positions,prior speeds, prior accelerations, etc.) associated with known objectsin the ego vehicle's environment, prior data associated with the egovehicle itself (e.g., prior path, prior positions, prior speeds, priorelected policies/behaviors, etc.), prior data associated with a blindregion, prior data associated with the location of a detected blindregion, and/or any other types of information.

In a set of variations in which simulations are performed to simulateand select policies for the vehicle, the historical information canoptionally additionally or alternatively include data which was used inprior simulations.

The historical information can optionally be collected at any or all of:the ego vehicle during the current trip, the ego vehicle during aprevious trip, multiple vehicles (e.g., and aggregated), and/orotherwise be collected from any suitable sources.

In some variations, for instance, the historical information includesand/or is used to determine any or all of: how long a blind region hasbeen a blind region (e.g., whether or not a blind region is caused by astatic vs. a dynamic object, whether or not the ego vehicle waspreviously able to detect information at the location of a currentlyblind region, etc.); whether or not a known object which was previouslypresent is now missing; whether or not a known object which waspreviously not detected is now detected; at what speed other objects inthe ego vehicle's environment have been moving; and/or any otherinformation.

The set of inputs can optionally additionally or alternatively includesupplementary information (equivalently referred to herein assupplemental information), where the supplementary informationpreferably functions to inform if and/or how virtual objects should beadded to a blind region, but can additionally or alternatively performany other functions.

The supplementary information can include, but is not limited to, any orall of: a set of one or more maps (e.g., as described below); parameters(e.g., speed value, acceleration value, location, position, orientation,etc.) and/or other information (e.g., a suspected policy/behavior, apreviously suspected policy/behavior, etc.) associated with knownobjects in the ego vehicle's environment; parameters and/or information(e.g., parameters, a current policy/behavior, previouspolicies/behaviors, etc.) associated with the ego vehicle; supplementalinformation associated with the ego vehicle's environment (e.g., fromoffboard sensors, from databases, etc.); and/or any other information.

In a first set of variations, S210 includes collecting sensor data fromat least a set of one or more LiDAR sensors and optionally from a set ofdatabases (e.g., storing maps, storing historical data, storingsupplementary information, etc.).

In a second set of variations, S210 includes collecting sensor data froma set of cameras (e.g., multiple cameras) and optionally from a set ofdatabases (e.g., storing maps, storing historical data, storingsupplementary information, etc.).

In a third set of variations, S210 includes collecting sensor data froma set of RADAR sensors and optionally from a set of databases (e.g.,storing maps, storing historical data, storing supplementaryinformation, etc.).

In a fourth set of variations, S210 includes collecting sensor data frommultiple types of sensors (e.g., aggregated data from multiplesensors/sensor types, fused data from multiple sensors/sensor types,etc.) and optionally from a set of databases (e.g., storing maps,storing historical data, storing supplementary information, etc.).

Additionally or alternatively, S210 can include any other suitableprocesses.

4.2 Method—Determining a Set of Known Objects in the Ego Vehicle'sEnvironment S215

The method 200 can optionally include determining (e.g., detecting,characterizing, classifying, etc.) a set of known objects in the egovehicle's environment, which can function to enable any or all of: theperformance of a set of simulations (e.g., to simulate and select apolicy for the ego vehicle to implement); the detection of one or moreblind regions in S220 (e.g., based on detecting that the placement of aknown object is causing a region proximal to it to be occluded to theego vehicle); the determination of whether or not a virtual objectshould be placed in a blind region (e.g., based on the ego vehicle'sknowledge of how known objects are traveling through its environment);the assignment of one or more parameters to a virtual object (e.g.,based on the ego vehicle's knowledge of how known objects are travelingthrough its environment, based on the current and/or prior speeds ofknown objects, based on the detected behavior of a known object, etc.);and/or any other functions.

S215 is preferably performed in response to and based on S210 (e.g., ateach instance of S210), and further preferably based on any or allsensor information collected in S210 (e.g., camera data, LiDAR data,RADAR data, etc.), but can additionally or alternatively be performedbased on any other data collected in S210; in response to anotherprocess of the method 200; multiple times during the method 200 and/orduring operation of the ego vehicle (e.g., continuously, at apredetermined frequency, at a predetermined cycle, etc.); and/or at anyother times. Alternatively, the method 200 can be performed in absenceof S215.

S215 is preferably performed at a set of computing subsystems and/orprocessing subsystems associated with the ego vehicle (e.g., onboard theego vehicle, in communication with the ego vehicle, etc.), but canadditionally or alternatively be performed with any other suitablecomponents and/or combination of components.

S215 can optionally be used to determine, detect, and/or classify theset of blind regions in S220. In some variations, for instance, theblind regions and/or their associated parameters (e.g., size, location,etc.) are determined (e.g., in part, fully, etc.) based on the set ofknown objects (e.g., known object size, known object location, knownobject historical information, etc.). Alternatively, the blind regionscan be determined independently of known objects.

A known object preferably refers herein to an object which can bedetected by the ego vehicle (e.g., is not obstructed, is not within ablind region, etc.). Known objects can include any suitable objects(e.g., dynamic objects, static objects, etc.), such as, but not limitedto, any or all of: vehicles (e.g., cars, vans, trucks, buses, trains,planes, motorcycles, etc.); bicycles; pedestrians; static objects (e.g.,trees, lamp posts, rode geometry, signs, etc.); and/or any otherobjects. Additionally or alternatively, known objects can refer toobjects which are of interest to the ego vehicle (e.g., within apredetermined distance threshold), and/or any other objects. Furtheradditionally or alternatively, S215 can include detecting features ofthe road geometry (e.g., lane lines, traffic lights, etc.) and/or anyother information.

S215 can optionally include characterizing (e.g., classifying) any orall of the known objects, such as based on object type, importance,and/or any other metrics.

S215 can optionally additionally or alternatively include determining(e.g., calculating, detecting, predicted, etc.) one or more parametersassociated with any or all of the known objects, such as, but notlimited to: speed, position (e.g., location), orientation, pose,behavior/policy (e.g., as predicted based on other parameters and/orhistorical information), intent, and/or any other information. Any orall of the parameters can optionally be used for: simulating the knownobjects; determining whether or not a virtual object should be presentin a blind region; determining the parameters to be attributed to any orall virtual objects; and/or can be otherwise suitably used.

In a preferred set of variations, S215 includes detecting a set of knownobjects in the ego vehicle's environment and determining (e.g., with aset of dynamics equations, based on sensor data, with a set of trainedmodels, etc.) a set of parameters associated with each of the knownobjects.

4.3 Method—Determining a Set of Blind Regions in the Ego Vehicle'sEnvironment S220

The method 200 can include determining (e.g., detecting, characterizing,classifying, etc.) in the ego vehicle's environment S220, whichfunctions to determine areas in which the ego vehicle does not detectinformation and/or areas in which the ego agent detects that informationis missing. Additionally or alternatively, S220 can function todetermine a conflict zone, detect the overlap and/or predicted overlapbetween a blind region and a conflict zone, eliminate blind regions fromfurther consideration and/or processing, and/or can perform any othersuitable function(s).

S220 is preferably performed in response to and based on S210 andfurther preferably multiple times (e.g., continuously, at apredetermined frequency, etc.) during operation of the ego agent, butcan additionally or alternatively be performed at any or all of: inresponse to and/or based on S215; in response to a trigger (e.g., thedetection of a conflict zone); in response to other processes of themethod 200; in absence of S210 and/or S215; and/or at any other suitabletime(s).

S220 is preferably performed at a set of computing subsystems and/orprocessing subsystems associated with the ego vehicle (e.g., onboard theego vehicle, in communication with the ego vehicle, etc.), but canadditionally or alternatively be performed with any other suitablecomponents and/or combination of components.

A blind region (equivalently referred to herein as a blind spot, lowvisibility region, no visibility region, obstructed region, occludedregion, unknown region, etc.) refers to an area and/or region which isnot detectable (and/or detectable with high noise and/or low confidence)by a sensor system associated with the ego vehicle (e.g., not part of avisible region of the agent as shown in FIG. 6), such as any or all of:a sensor system (e.g., LIDAR sensors, cameras, RADAR sensors, etc.)onboard the autonomous agent, a sensor system onboard one or moreinfrastructure devices, a sensor system onboard other agents and/orobjects, a sensor fusion system, and/or any other components.

A blind region is preferably caused by an obstruction (e.g., knownobject, infrastructure, etc.), such as an object arranged between theego vehicle and the blind region (e.g., next to the blind region), wherethe object or other obstruction obstructs the ego vehicle from detecting(e.g., sensing, seeing, etc.) information in the blind region. Blindregions can additionally or alternatively be caused by any or all of: anumber and/or arrangement of sensors onboard the ego agent (e.g.,resulting in certain angles which cannot be detected); failure of one ormore sensors; environmental conditions (e.g., glare, rain, fog, etc.) ofthe ego agent; and/or based on any other causes.

The blind region is preferably detected based on any or all of a set ofsensors and a computing system of the ego agent (e.g., as describedabove), but can additionally or alternatively be determined based onprocessing the sensor data, such as based on any or all of: a set ofprogrammed rules, a set of machine learning models, and/or any otherinformation. Alternatively, the blind region can be detected with dataother than sensor data, predetermined, and/or otherwise suitablydetermined.

The blind region is preferably at least partially dynamicallydetermined, wherein the occurrence of a blind region and/or itsassociated parameters are continuously (e.g., at a predeterminedfrequency) determined (e.g., searched for, detected, etc.) duringoperation of the ego agent. Additionally or alternatively, the blindregion can be any or all of: predetermined, fixed (e.g., a fixed regionrelative to one or more reference points of the ego agent), determinedat any other times (e.g., at random intervals, at a single time during atrip of the ego agent, in response to a trigger such as the detection ofa conflict zone, etc.), and/or otherwise suitably determined.

The blind region can be associated with and/or defined by any number ofparameters such as any or all of: an area of the blind region (e.g.,based on a projection to the road surface), a volume of the blindregion, one or more length parameters of the blind region (e.g.,distance extending from the ego agent, distance ahead of the ego agent,distance offset from the ego agent, etc.), an angle of the blind region,a height of the blind region (e.g., offset to the ground), and/or anyother suitable parameters.

In some variations, for instance, blind regions are detected based atleast in part on a set of height parameters (e.g., height deviations)associated with a detected environmental representation (e.g., asdetected with a set of LiDAR sensors). In specific examples, a heightparameter used to detect and/or classify a blind region includes aheight relative to the ground (e.g., road surface), such that in anevent that the ego vehicle is not able to detect information at theground and/or within a predetermined height above the ground (e.g., tallenough height for an object to be concealed within), that region iscategorized as blind.

S220 can optionally include comparing any or all of these parameterswith a set of thresholds (e.g., bounds, limits, etc.), such that, forinstance, blind regions can be eliminated from consideration based onthese comparisons. The thresholds can enforce for instance, any or allof: a minimum size of the blind region (e.g., wherein blind regionsbelow this size threshold are eliminated from consideration since noeffective object can fit within the blind region), a minimum height ofthe blind region relative to the road surface, a maximum distance awayfrom the ego agent (e.g., wherein blind regions far away from the agentare not considered, etc.), a location of the blind region (e.g.,relative to road geometry and/or landmarks), and/or any otherthresholds.

S220 can optionally include determining (e.g., detecting,characterizing, classifying, etc.) a set of zones in the ego vehicle'senvironment, where determining the set of zones can function to:determine which blind regions to perform further processing on (e.g.,eliminate blind regions from further processing); prioritize which blindregions to further process; conserve computational resources; and/orperform any other functions.

The set of zones can be any or all of: predetermined (e.g., assignedto/hardcoded into a map), inferred and/or computed from predeterminedmap data, dynamically determined (e.g., based on sensor system of egoagent, based on sensors of infrastructure devices, etc.), determined inany combination of ways, and/or otherwise suitably determined.

In some variations, for instance, any or all of the set of zones aredetermined (e.g., identified) based on a set of maps, wherein the set ofmaps are labeled (e.g., pre-labeled, hand labeled, dynamically labeled,etc.) with zones of interest (e.g., for further processing of blindregions). The maps are preferably referenced based on at least alocation of the ego vehicle and optionally any or all of theenvironmental representation (e.g., to match with detected roadgeometry), but can additionally or alternatively be otherwise retrievedand/or referenced (e.g., based on a current policy of the ego vehicle,based on a proposed policy for the ego vehicle, etc.). The maps can beany or all of: 3D, 2D, and/or have any other dimensions. The maps caninclude any or all of: a single map, multiple maps (e.g., multiple mapoptions wherein each map is configured for a particular policy/behaviorfor the ego vehicle), and/or any combination of maps and/or map options.

In additional or alternative variations, any or all of the zones aredetected dynamically. In specific examples, for instance, sensor datacan be processed (e.g., with a trained model, with computer visionprocesses, etc.) to classify zones of interest (e.g., based onparameters described below for conflict zones, based on historicalinformation, etc.).

The zones of interest preferably include what is referred to herein as aset of conflict zones, where S220 includes detecting and/or determiningthat the blind region is partially or fully overlapping with a conflictzone. A conflict zone refers to any region where the potential existsfor multiple paths to conflict (e.g., intersect, overlap, etc.), such asany regions where 2 or more lanes can overlap in geometry (e.g., split,merge, cross, etc.), or any other regions. In preferred variations, aconflict zone refers to a region in which the ego agent and/or a route(e.g., fixed route, dynamic route, etc.) of the ego agent couldpotentially encounter other objects, such as in experiencing crosstraffic (e.g., intersections, parking lots, driveways, etc.), paralleltraffic (e.g., in lane changes), and/or any other types of encounters,where traffic can include vehicular traffic, pedestrian traffic, and/orany other encounters with any suitable objects. Additionally oralternatively, a conflict zone can be otherwise suitably defined,include a subset of these use cases, include additional use cases,and/or be otherwise determined.

The conflict zone is preferably assigned at least in part based on roadfeatures and/or geometry (e.g., the present of an intersection, thesplitting and/or merging of lane lines, etc.), but can additionally oralternatively be determined based on other infrastructural information(e.g., house locations, driveway locations, sidewalks, etc.), historicalinformation (e.g., previous conflicts and/or near conflicts), dynamicinformation (e.g., current traffic conditions, accident alerts,construction alerts, etc.), and/or any other information.

The conflict zone can optionally be dependent on a behavior and/orpolicy of the agent, such as a conflict zone which is present when theego agent is performing (and/or is proposed to perform) a lane changebehavior but not present when the ego agent is maintaining its lane.Additionally or alternatively, the conflict zone can be dependent onother features associated with the ego agent, independent of any or allof this information, any combination, and/or otherwise determined. In aspecific example, for instance, a neighboring lane traveling in the samedirection to the ego vehicle is only considered a conflict zone in casesin which a lane change policy is proposed for the ego vehicle.

The conflict zone can additionally or alternatively be dependent on anyor all of: a virtual object type (e.g., wherein conflict zones forpedestrian and/or bike virtual objects are more numerous and/or lessconstrained to road geometry relative to car virtual objects); thedirection of travel of lanes within the conflict zone (e.g., onlyinclude the subset of lanes which have a direction of travel relevant tothe ego vehicle); and/or can be otherwise determined.

S220 can optionally include comparing a set of blind region candidateswith the set of zones to determine a set of blind regions for furtherprocessing. The blind regions for further processing preferably includethose which overlap with (e.g., touch, partially overlap with, are fullyarranged within, etc.) a zone of interest (e.g., conflict zone), but canadditionally or alternatively those proximal to a zone of interest(e.g., within a predetermined distance threshold of), and/or any otherzone(s). Alternatively, all zones can be considered, zones can beconsidered otherwise, and/or S220 can be otherwise suitably performed.

In some variations, S220 includes (and/or is triggered in response to)detecting a conflict zone and/or determining that a blind regionoverlaps and/or is predicted to overlap (e.g., based on a route of theego agent, based on a current location of the ego agent, based on aspeed of the ego agent, etc.) with a conflict zone (e.g., based onoverlaying the detected blind region with a set of maps includinglabeled conflict zones), which can have benefits in computationalefficiency and/or function to prevent overly cautious behavior of theego agent based on blind regions outside of conflict zones (e.g., inwhich it is not necessary to know if there is an object present in ablind region). In specific examples, this is determined based onlocating the ego agent within a map including a computed (e.g.,precomputed) set of conflict zones (e.g., as described above), whereinthe set of predetermined conflict zones is determined based on locatingthe ego vehicle within the map (e.g., based on ego vehicle position,based on lane geometry, etc.). Additionally or alternatively, theconflict zones can be hard-coded, the conflict zone can be determinedbased on any other maps and/or in absence of maps, the blind regions canbe processed absent of a comparison with predetermined zones, and/or theconflict zones can be otherwise determined.

Any or all of the remaining processes of the method 200 are preferablyperformed in advance of the ego agent reaching the conflict zone, suchas in a forward simulation which simulates each of a set of potentialpolicies for the ego vehicle before it reaches the conflict zone, butcan additionally or alternatively be otherwise performed.

In a first variation, S220 includes continuously and dynamicallysearching for blind regions associated with the ego agent based onsensor information from onboard the ego agent and optionally from othersensor systems (e.g., of one or more infrastructure devices, of otheragents and/or objects, etc.).

In a second variation, additional or alternative to the first, S220includes detecting any or all of: that the ego agent is in a conflictzone, that the ego agent is approaching a conflict zone (e.g., within apredetermined distance of a conflict zone, within a predetermined timeof reaching a conflict zone based on a speed of the ego agent, etc.),that a blind region of the ego agent is overlapping with and/orpredicted to overlap with a conflict zone, and/or any other information.

In a third variation, additional or alternative to the above, any or allof the blind regions detected in S220 are fixed/predetermined (e.g.,relative to the ego agent).

Additionally or alternatively, S220 can be otherwise suitably performed.

4.4 Method—Selecting a set of virtual objects based on the blind regionS230

The method 200 can include selecting a set of virtual objects based onthe blind region S230, which functions to determine virtual objects toplace into the blind region (e.g., as described in S240), such that theego agent can consider the blind region (e.g., just as any other region)in its decision making (e.g., policy selection such as in a multi-policydecision-making module, planning, prediction, trajectory generation,etc.). Additionally or alternatively, S230 can function to selectvirtual objects which maintain safety goals without requiring that theego agent behave overly cautiously, and/or can perform any otherfunctions.

S230 is preferably performed in response to S220 and based on the blindregion(s) determined in S220, but can additionally or alternatively beperformed in response to another process of the method 200; in absenceof S220; multiple times (e.g., continuously, at a predeterminedfrequency, etc.) during the method 200 and/or operation of the egovehicle; in response to a trigger; and/or at any other times and/orbased on any other information (e.g., the conflict zone).

S230 is preferably performed with and/or at a set of computingsubsystems and/or processing subsystems associated with the ego vehicle(e.g., onboard the ego vehicle, in communication with the ego vehicle,etc.), but can additionally or alternatively be performed with any othersuitable components and/or combination of components.

A virtual object preferably refers herein to an object (e.g.,vehicle/agent, pedestrian, bicycle, construction zone/constructionmaterials, etc.) which could potentially be located in a blind region,but is not known (and/or is known with a confidence below a threshold)to be in the blind region (e.g., since the blind region is notdetectable by the ego agent). Additionally or alternatively, virtualobjects can be otherwise suitably defined.

The virtual object is preferably selected/determined based on any or allof the parameters and/or features of the blind region, such as any orall of those described above. In preferred variations, for instance, thevirtual object is determined based on a size of the blind region,wherein the virtual object is selected based on what would physicallyfit into the blind region (e.g., as shown in FIGS. 9A-9E). In specificexamples, a library of sizes for standard objects is referenced todetermine whether the blind region is big enough to fit a vehicle, oronly a bicycle, or only a pedestrian, and so forth. In some variations,the largest possible virtual object is selected for any or all of theblind regions, which functions to account for worst-case scenarios.Additionally or alternatively, the virtual object(s) can be otherwiseselected (e.g., based on which virtual object is most likely to bepresent, based on which virtual object would result in a worst-casescenario, based on which virtual object could be traveling the fastest,based on which virtual object could be traveling with the greatest speeddifference relative to the ego vehicle, etc.). In another specificexample, for instance, a bicycle could be selected over a vehicle forconflict zones which overlap with a designated bike lane.

The virtual object can additionally or alternatively be selected basedon any other information and/or tools, such as any or all of: a set ofmachine learning models, a set of probabilistic and/or statisticalmodels and/or processes producing outputs (e.g., predictions,probabilities, etc.) related to if an object were expected to be in ablind region and/or what object/object type would be expected to be in ablind region (e.g., based on historical and/or simulated data, based onthe geographic location of the agent, based on the time of day, etc.), aset of rules, and/or any other suitable information.

In some variations, for instance, S230 includes performing an analysis(e.g., probabilistic analysis, statistical analysis, inference process,processing with a trained model, etc.) which functions to determine alikelihood (e.g., probability, confidence, distribution, etc.)associated with any or all of: any virtual object being in the blindregion; a particular type of virtual object being in the blind region;and/or the parameters (e.g., speed) associated with a virtual object inthe blind region. Additionally or alternatively, the analysis canfunction to determine (e.g., with a set of dynamics and/or kinematicsand/or physics equations, with a machine learning model, with a deeplearning model, with a decision tree, with a set of rules and/or alookup table, etc.) any or all of the set of parameter values (e.g.,speed value, location value, size dimensions, etc.) to assign to thevirtual object. In specific examples, the parameter values areconfigured to represent a worst-case, yet realistic scenario, such asany or all of: the highest speed that the virtual object could betraveling at (e.g., highest speed which still has a probability above apredetermined threshold such as 5%, 10%, 15%, 20%, 25%, between 5-25%,30%, 40%, 50%, between 25%-50%, 60%, greater than 50%, in any rangebounded by these values, etc.); the largest size the object couldreasonably have based on the size of the blind region and/or itslocation (e.g., relative to the road geometry); the closest locationthat the virtual object could have relative to the ego vehicle and/or apredicted location of the ego vehicle; and/or any other scenarios. Thiscan function, for instance, to prevent scenarios which result in the egovehicle getting “stuck” (e.g., stopped for a long period of time andunable to proceed forward, stopped for a long period of time at a staticblind spot, etc.); driving in ways which are surprising and/or dangerousto other drivers (e.g., slamming on the brakes for no actual reason,etc.); driving in overly conservative ways; and/or otherwise operatingnon-optimally.

Any or all of the analyses to determine a set of likelihoods can takeinto account any or all of the following information (e.g., as shown inFIG. 8): detected information (e.g., sensor information, if the egovehicle can detect regions proximal to the blind region, supplementaryinformation, etc.); historical information (e.g., how long that theblind region has been a blind region, how many known objects werepresent previously vs. are present now, whether or not a known objecthas disappeared from the environmental representation, whether or not aknown object has suddenly appeared in the environmental representation,etc.); aggregated information (e.g., from other sensor systems, fromsupplementary sensor systems, from an aggregated set of ego vehiclespreviously on the road, from an aggregated set of ego vehicles currentlyon the road, etc.); parameters and/or behaviors associated with theknown objects (e.g., how fast they are traveling, if they are drivingcautiously, etc.); how the ego vehicle's environment has changed overtime; and/or any other information.

In specific examples, for instance, determining the virtual object'spresence and/or any or all of its parameters can depend on any or allof: for what duration of time the blind region has existed (e.g.,wherein if it has persisted for longer than a threshold, it is likelycaused by a static object such as a lamp post or parked vehicle; whereinif it has persisted for longer than a threshold and no known object hasentered or emerged from it, it likely has no object or a static objector a slow-moving object; etc.); how much of the blind region's immediatesurroundings can be confidently detected (e.g., wherein if the egovehicle can see around a blind region and also knows that in theprevious time step no known object was near it, then there is likely novirtual object in the blind region; wherein if the ego vehicle can seearound a blind region and also knows that in the previous time step aknown object was near it and has since disappeared, then that knownobject with its previous parameters is likely present in the blindregion, etc.); whether or not the number of known objects in the egovehicle's environment has changed over time (e.g., wherein if a knownobject disappears proximal to where a blind region appears, that knownobject is likely in a blind region; wherein if a known object suddenlyappears proximal to where a blind region is or was, then there isprobably not an object currently in the blind region; etc.); historicalinformation; the behavior and/or parameters associated with knownobjects (e.g., where if a known object is driving at a high speed towarda blind region, then there is likely no object in the blind region);conventions and/or traffic rules for that area (e.g., where if a knownobject is not maintaining a predetermined minimum stopping distancewhile behind a blind region, then there is a low probability that thereis an object in the blind region; etc.); and/or any other information.

In a preferred set of variations, the analyses are performed with a setof probabilistic models, algorithms, and/or equations (e.g., untrainedand/or unlearned models, trained and/or learned models, rule-basedmodels, programmed models, etc.). Additionally or alternatively, any orall of the analyses can be performed with trained and/or learned models(e.g., machine learning models, deep learning models, etc.), statisticalprocesses, decision trees, hard-coded logic, and/or any other tools.

Additionally or alternatively, any or all of the parameter values can bepredetermined (e.g., based on a speed limit associated with the egovehicle's location, constant, etc.), dynamically determined, determinedbased on historical information (e.g., the average speed at whichvehicles travel in that area, the highest speed at which vehicles havetraveled in that area, etc.), and/or otherwise suitably determined.

For instance, S230 can optionally include selecting a set of parametersand/or features associated with the virtual object(s). The parametersand/or features can optionally be configured to take into account a setof worst-case or otherwise potentially serious scenarios, such that themost conservative (potentially dangerous) option (e.g., largest size,closest location relative to ego agent, highest speed, etc.) for virtualobject is selected. The worst-case scenarios can be determined based onany or all of: historical data, simulated data, aggregated data, and/orany other information. The features and/or parameters can additionallyor alternatively be selected to not necessarily result in the worst-casescenario (e.g., which might result in overly cautious behavior of theego agent) but rather fall within a spectrum of realistic worst-casescenarios (e.g., as described above, based on any of the informationdescribed above, etc.), such that extremely unlikely worst-casescenarios are ignored, as they would result in overly cautious and/orotherwise potentially disruptive behaviors for the ego agent.

The parameters and/or features can include, for instance, any or all of:a location of the obstacle relative to the ego agent, a speed of theobstacle, an acceleration of the obstacle, a behavior and/or intent ofthe obstacle, a size of the obstacle, a location of an agent virtualobject within a lane of the road (e.g., in the middle of the lane, on anedge of the lane such as an edge closest to the ego agent, weavingwithin the lane, etc.), and/or any other parameters and/or features. Insome variations, for instance, the virtual object is placed at alocation which is any or all of: closest to the ego vehicle (e.g., thelane edge closest to the ego vehicle); closest to where the ego vehiclewill be once the ego vehicle and the virtual object would enter aconflict zone and/or other high-risk scenario; most likely (e.g., basedon road geometry, driving conventions, based on the locations of knownobjects, etc.); any combination; and/or otherwise located.

In specific examples, for instance, conservative parameters and/orfeatures for the virtual object can include any or all of: a maximumspeed (e.g., the speed limit, 5 mph above the speed limit, an averageamount over the speed limit for that roadway, etc.), a closest proximityto the ego agent, a riskiest behavior (e.g., high acceleration, suddenbraking, weaving in and out of a lane, etc.), and/or any otherparameters/features.

Selecting the virtual object preferably includes selecting a type ofvirtual object, wherein the types of virtual objects can include, forinstance, any or all of: a vehicle/agent (e.g., 4-wheeled vehicle,sedan, van, limousine, school bus or other bus, autonomous vs. manualvehicle, etc.), a bicycle (e.g., manual bike, electric bike, motorcycle,vespa, scooter, etc.), a pedestrian (e.g., walking pedestrian, runningpedestrian, pedestrian with a strollers, etc.), static objects (e.g.,traffic cones, other obstacles, etc.), and/or any other objects.

A virtual object can optionally be determined based on an actual object.In some variations, for instance, a virtual object can be selected whichfunctions to track one or more real objects. In a specific example, forinstance, a virtual object having features corresponding to (e.g., ofthe same type, make, model, speed of travel, etc.) a real object isselected and placed such that it replaces a known object which hasbecome “invisible” to the ego agent (e.g., as shown in FIGS. 3A-3B). Thevirtual object can then optionally be removed once the real object isvisible to the ego agent again and/or the blind region has disappeared.

S240 (and/or S250) can optionally include determining (e.g., predicting)and/or assigning a set of policies (e.g., behaviors, actions,trajectories, etc.) to each of the virtual objects, which functions toenable their interactions with the environment to be simulated indetermining the response of the ego vehicle (e.g., as described below).Each virtual object is preferably assigned one or more policies (e.g., asingle policy, multiple policies, etc.), but can additionally oralternatively not be assigned a policy and/or be otherwise configured.

In some variations, a virtual object can be assigned to have multiplebehaviors and/or locations. In some examples, for instance, if thevirtual object has the option to turn at an intersection, the virtualobject can move (e.g., be simulated to move) in multiple directions(e.g., spawn/fan out) such that the method (e.g., simulations) accountsfor the virtual object moving and/or turning in any possible direction.

In a set of specific examples (e.g., as shown in FIG. 9E), each of thevirtual objects is assigned a set of one or more policies to be used insimulating that virtual object. The policies preferably take intoaccount features of the environment (e.g., which lane the virtual objectis located in) and optionally the policy selected for the ego vehicle,such that the policies represent those which could cause an interactionwith the ego vehicle (e.g., wherein the 2^(nd) virtual object is notsimulated with a “drive straight” policy as this would not lead to aninteraction with the ego vehicle turning left; wherein the 1^(st)virtual object is not simulated with a “change lanes” policy as thiswould not lead to an interaction with the ego vehicle turning left;etc.). Additionally or alternatively, the virtual objects can besimulated with a single policy (e.g., most likely policy, policy mostlikely to lead to a collision, etc.); simulated without a policy;simulated with multiple locations and/or other parameters; otherwisesimulated; and/or not simulated.

Any or all of the parameters and/or features can be determined with adatabase (e.g., lookup table, library, etc.). In specific examples, forinstance, a library of different standard sizes (e.g., height, width,length, etc.) and/or parameters for different types of virtual objects(e.g., 4-wheeled vehicles, 2-wheeled vehicles, bikes, pedestrians, etc.)can be referenced when selecting the virtual object(s). Additionally oralternatively, the virtual objects can be otherwise determined.

In a first variation (e.g., as shown in FIGS. 3A-3B), a set of virtualvehicles and a pedestrian are selected for a set of blind regionsassociated with an agent approaching an intersection conflict zone.

In a second variation (e.g., as shown in FIG. 4), a virtual vehiclearranged as close as possible to the ego agent is selected for a blindregion associated with a conflict zone including a driveway intersectingwith a roadway.

Additionally or alternatively, a set of virtual objects can bedetermined in absence of and/or independently of a blind region (e.g.,to create additional traffic in an environment of the user, to createvirtual objects in visible regions, etc.).

Further additionally or alternatively, S230 can include any othersuitable processes and/or can be otherwise suitably performed.

4.5 Method—Inserting the Set of Virtual Objects into the Blind RegionS240

The method 200 can include inserting the set of virtual objects andtheir parameters/features into the blind region S240, which functions toenable the ego agent to consider the set of virtual objects in decisionmaking. Additionally or alternatively, S240 can perform any othersuitable functions.

S240 is preferably performed in response to S230, but can additionallyor alternatively be performed during S230, in absence of S230, and/or atany other suitable time(s).

S240 is preferably performed at a computing system of the system 100,such as at a planning module of the computing system, such that thecomputing system considers both virtual and real objects when planning atrajectory (e.g., selecting a policy, selecting a behavior, etc.) of theego agent. In preferred variations, for instance, both virtual objectsand real objects are taken into account in the determination andselection of a policy in a multi-policy decision making module (e.g., asdescribed above) of the computing system. The virtual objects arepreferably considered to be indistinguishable from the real objects, butcan additionally or alternatively be otherwise considered (e.g., oflower priority, with contributions being weighted, according to theirprobability likelihoods, etc.) in the planning and/or other processes.

4.6 Method—Operating the Autonomous Agent Based on the Set of VirtualObjects S250

The method 200 can include operating the autonomous agent based on theset of virtual objects S250, which functions to maneuver the autonomousagent in its environment. Additionally or alternatively, S250 canfunction to optimally (e.g., most efficiently, in a way which is mostnatural to other road users, relative to progress toward a goal, etc.)maneuver the autonomous agent; and/or can perform any other suitablefunctions.

S250 is preferably performed in response to S240, but can additionallyor alternatively be performed in response to another process of themethod 200; in absence of S240; during S240 and/or another process ofthe method 200; multiple times; in response to a trigger; and/or at anyother times.

The ego agent is preferably operated in accordance with a multiplepolicy decision making (MPDM) process, such as described above and/or inU.S. application Ser. No. 16/514,624, filed 17 Jul. 2019, and/or U.S.application Ser. No. 17/365,538, filed 1 Jul. 2021, each of which isincorporated herein in its entirety by this reference, but canadditionally or alternatively be otherwise performed.

S250 can optionally additionally or alternatively include addingadditional policies for the ego vehicle to consider, where theadditional policies are preferably configured to enable the ego vehicleto collect extra information about the blind region (and/or cause it todisappear), such as by moving forward (e.g., creeping, yielding, etc.)to collect additional sensor data; waiting a brief period of time (e.g.,to allow known objects causing the obstruction to pass, etc.); and/orotherwise operating. These can function, for instance, to prevent theego vehicle from being stalled at a blind region for long periods oftime.

Additionally or alternatively, S250 can be otherwise performed and/orinclude any other suitable processes, such as trajectory generation(e.g., from the inferred object type, road geometry, etc.), and/or anyother processes.

5. Variations

In a first variation of the method, the method 200 includes: receiving aset of inputs from a sensor system onboard the ego agent and optionallyany other sensor systems; determining a blind region of the autonomousagent based on the sensor inputs and optionally detecting that ego agentis within and/or approaching a conflict zone; selecting a set of virtualobjects and associated features and/or parameters of the virtualobjects; inserting the set of virtual objects into the blind region; andoperating the autonomous agent based on the set of virtual objects.

In a first set of specific examples, detecting that the ego agent iswithin and/or approaching a conflict zone is performed with a set ofpredetermined, labeled maps.

In a second set of specific examples, detecting that the ego agent iswithin and/or approaching a conflict zone is performed dynamically withprocessing of the sensor data (e.g., with a set of computer visionprocesses).

In a second variation of the method (e.g., as shown in FIG. 7), themethod 200 includes any or all of: receiving a set of inputs (e.g.,sensor inputs, historical information, supplementary information, etc.);determining a set of known objects based on the set of inputs;determining a set of blind regions based on the set of inputs (e.g.,identifying a set of blind regions in the ego vehicle's environment;determining a set of zones in the ego vehicle's environment; determiningand/or filtering information based on a proposed policy and/or goal forthe ego vehicle; comparing the set of obstructed regions with the set ofzones to determine the set of blind regions; etc.); selecting a set ofvirtual objects and/or associated parameters associated with the set ofvirtual objects (e.g., calculating a size of each of the set of virtualobjects; referencing a database to select virtual objects; determining aset of parameters and/or features associated with the set of virtualobjects; determining a set of policies for the virtual objects; etc.);inserting the set of virtual objects into the set of blind regions; andoperating the ego vehicle based on the set of virtual objects (e.g.,simulating each of a set of available policies for the ego vehicle basedon the set of known objects and the set of virtual objects; selecting apolicy for the ego vehicle based on the set of simulations; maneuveringthe ego vehicle according to the selected policy; etc.).

An example analysis performed in this variation is shown in FIGS. 9A-9E.

In a first set of specific examples, the set of inputs includes LiDARdata.

In a second set of specific examples, the set of inputs includes cameradata.

Additionally or alternatively, the method 200 can include any othersuitable processes.

Although omitted for conciseness, the preferred embodiments includeevery combination and permutation of the various system components andthe various method processes, wherein the method processes can beperformed in any suitable order, sequentially or concurrently.

Embodiments of the system and/or method can include every combinationand permutation of the various system components and the various methodprocesses, wherein one or more instances of the method and/or processesdescribed herein can be performed asynchronously (e.g., sequentially),contemporaneously (e.g., concurrently, in parallel, etc.), or in anyother suitable order by and/or using one or more instances of thesystems, elements, and/or entities described herein. Components and/orprocesses of the following system and/or method can be used with, inaddition to, in lieu of, or otherwise integrated with all or a portionof the systems and/or methods disclosed in the applications mentionedabove, each of which are incorporated in their entirety by thisreference.

Additional or alternative embodiments implement the above methods and/orprocessing modules in non-public transitory computer-readable media,storing computer-readable instructions. The instructions can be executedby computer-executable components integrated with the computer-readablemedium and/or processing system. The computer-readable medium mayinclude any suitable computer readable media such as RAMs, ROMs, flashmemory, EEPROMs, optical devices (CD or DVD), hard drives, floppydrives, non-public transitory computer readable media, or any suitabledevice. The computer-executable component can include a computing systemand/or processing system (e.g., including one or more collocated ordistributed, remote or local processors) connected to the non-publictransitory computer-readable medium, such as CPUs, GPUs, TPUS,microprocessors, or ASICs, but the instructions can alternatively oradditionally be executed by any suitable dedicated hardware device.

As a person skilled in the art will recognize from the previous detaileddescription and from the figures and claims, modifications and changescan be made to the preferred embodiments of the invention withoutdeparting from the scope of this invention defined in the followingclaims.

We claim:
 1. A method for operating an autonomous vehicle with anincomplete environmental understanding, the method comprising:collecting sensor data from a set of sensors onboard the autonomousvehicle; characterizing an environment of the autonomous vehicle basedon the sensor data, wherein the characterized environment comprises aset of known objects; identifying a set of unknown regions in thecharacterized environment; locating the set of unknown regions within alabeled map, wherein the labeled map comprises a set of labeled conflictzones; identifying a subset of unknown regions from the set of unknownregions based on an overlap between the subset of unknown regions andthe set of labeled conflict zones; placing a virtual object from a setof virtual objects into each of the subset of unknown regions in thecharacterized environment; performing a simulation based on the setknown objects and the set of virtual objects; and operating theautonomous vehicle based on the simulation.
 2. The method of claim 1,wherein the set of labeled conflict zones is determined at least in partbased on a behavior associated with the autonomous vehicle.
 3. Themethod of claim 2, wherein the behavior is a simulated behavior assignedto the autonomous vehicle in the simulation.
 4. The method of claim 1,wherein the simulation is a forward simulation, and wherein thesimulation is performed in accordance with a predetermined cyclefrequency.
 5. The method of claim 1, wherein operating the autonomousvehicle comprises selecting a behavior for the autonomous vehicle basedon the simulation and maneuvering the autonomous vehicle according tothe behavior.
 6. The method of claim 1, further comprising selectingeach of the set of virtual objects, wherein selecting each of the set ofvirtual objects comprises referencing a predetermined lookup table. 7.The method of claim 6, wherein the predetermined lookup table isreferenced at least in part based on a size associated with each of thesubset of unknown regions.
 8. The method of claim 1, further comprisingassigning a set of parameters to each of the set of virtual objects,wherein the set of parameters comprises a speed.
 9. The method of claim8, wherein the speed is determined based on information associated withthe set of known objects.
 10. The method of claim 9, wherein theinformation comprises a set of historical speeds associated with the setof known objects.
 11. The method of claim 1, wherein determining thesubset of unknown regions further comprises determining a probabilityassociated with each of the subset of unknown regions and determiningthat each of the probabilities has exceeded a predetermined threshold.12. The method of claim 11, wherein the probability is determined atleast in part based on historical information.
 13. The method of claim12, wherein the historical information comprises at least one of:historical sensor data associated with a location corresponding to theunknown region of the subset and historical sensor data associated witha set of known objects in the characterized environment.
 14. The methodof claim 12, wherein the historical information is used to determine achange in a number of known objects in the characterized environment,wherein the probability is determined based on the change.
 15. Themethod of claim 1, wherein the set of unknown regions is identifiedbased at least in part on a set of height metrics associated with thecharacterized environment.
 16. The method of claim 15, wherein each ofthe set of unknown regions has a height exceeding a predetermined heightthreshold relative to a ground level of the characterized environment.17. The method of claim 1, wherein the sensor data comprises LiDAR data.18. A method for operating an autonomous vehicle with an incompleteenvironmental understanding, the method comprising: collecting sensordata from a set of sensors onboard the autonomous vehicle;characterizing an environment of the autonomous vehicle based on thesensor data, wherein the characterized environment comprises a set ofknown objects; identifying a set of unknown regions in the characterizedenvironment; determining a set of size parameters associated with eachof the set of unknown regions; locating the set of unknown regionswithin a labeled map, wherein the labeled map comprises a set of labeledconflict zones; identifying a subset of unknown regions from the set ofunknown regions based on an overlap between the subset of unknownregions and the set of labeled conflict zones; selecting a virtualobject from a set of virtual objects for each of the subset of unknownregions based on the set of size parameters; placing the set of virtualobjects into the subset of unknown regions in the characterizedenvironment to form an updated characterized environment comprising theset of known objects and the set of virtual objects; and operating theautonomous vehicle based on the updated characterized environment. 19.The method of claim 18, further comprising assigning a first set ofparameters to each of the set of virtual objects, wherein the first setof parameters is determined at least in part based on a second set ofparameters associated with the set of known objects.
 20. The method ofclaim 19, wherein each of the first and second sets of parameterscomprises a speed.